Asia Economics Update Not all gloom and doom for Korea's economy The recent run of weak data has increased pessimism about the Korean economy, as reflected by a string of downgrades to its 2015 growth forecasts. But while the consensus now expects growth to soften... 21st April 2015 · 1 min read
Middle East & North Africa Economics Update “Accession bonus” leads to pick-up in Saudi consumer spending With inflation at an eight-year low and public sector workers receiving a bonus following King Salman’s recent accession to the throne, household spending in Saudi Arabia appears to have gathered... 21st April 2015 · 1 min read
US Economics Update Monetary Indicators Monitor (Mar.) With broad money growth expanding at close to 6% over the past year and bank loans growing at an even faster 8%, there is little evidence of a sustained slowdown in real economic growth or price... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Precious Metals Update Why isn’t gold doing better despite “Grexit” risks? The price of gold has dipped below $1,200 per ounce again today, prompting some to ask whether a further escalation of the crisis in Greece would provide much support to the precious metal after all... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Global Economics Update How has investment fared since the crisis? One of the most disappointing features of advanced economies in recent years has been the weakness of investment. In part, this is because investment tends to mirror the performance of the economy as... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Capital Daily What explains the underwhelming performance of US equities? 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Europe Data Response Polish Ind. Production & Retail Sales (Mar.) The raft of strong Polish activity data for March was flattered by calendar effects but, even so, the economy clearly ended the first quarter of the year on a strong note. All in all, it looks like... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Emerging Markets Economics Update China’s slowdown ripples across emerging world The effects of slower growth in China are already rippling across the emerging world. Indeed, while China’s economy is still growing by anywhere between 5–7% y/y depending on whose numbers you choose... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
China Chart Pack PBOC steps up policy support Sunday’s cut to the required reserve ratio for China’s banks signals a stepping-up of policy support. The 100bp cut was double the usual size and the first move on this scale since late 2008. It is... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
US Housing Market Focus Has the mortgage market turned a corner? The weight of evidence suggests that the mortgage market is making a bigger contribution to the housing recovery than some of the most widely watched indicators imply. Combined with the prospect of... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Energy Update Oil prices still face many headwinds The rebound in the last few weeks has lifted oil prices above our current end-2015 projections for Brent and WTI, but we are in no rush to change them. Some major headwinds both on the supply and... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand Consumer Prices (Q1) The petrol-related plunge in headline CPI inflation, to a 15-year low of 0.1% in the first quarter from 0.8% in the fourth quarter, will grab all the headlines, but it is the weakness of underlying... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Economics Weekly Bank of Canada doubles down on growth outlook The Bank of Canada's policy statement last week showed that it isn't willing to fold on its optimistic growth predictions, despite being dealt a bad card in the first quarter. Instead, it decided to... 20th April 2015 · 1 min read
Industrial Metals Update Stocks only tell half the story Stock movements and prices should have an inverse relationship, but this has not beenthe case for many of the base metals over the last month. There are, of course, otherdrivers of the price... 17th April 2015 · 1 min read
Canada Data Response Consumer Prices (Mar.) & Retail Sales (Feb.) The rise in the official core inflation rate to 2.4%, from 2.1%, was a surprise, but the details showed that this was largely due to pass-through effects from the lower Canadian dollar, rather than... 17th April 2015 · 1 min read
Commodities Weekly Recovery in oil prices gathers pace Oil prices rose sharply in the past week, supported by further evidence that US production and crude stocks are close to peaking – if they have not done so already. The recent stability of the US... 17th April 2015 · 1 min read
